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Lester's Academy
Lester's Academy is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated science fiction adventure comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It was directed by Samuel Merritt and Bibo Bergeron from a screenplay by Michael J. Wilson, Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen, and stars the voices of Zac Efron, Sarah Vowell, Dan Fogler, Steve Zahn, Katherine Heigl, Ian McShane, Teri Hatcher, James Marsden, Stanley Tucci, and Anthony Anderson The film follows a teenage boy named Lester Penn who signs up to the Adventure Academy, where he sets off on a mission via another dimension to rescue several creatures that were lost or abandoned in order to train to become a top adventurer. Soon, Lester finds that there is a sinister plot occurring at the academy that only he can stop. Lester's Academy premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 18, 2014, and was released in the United States on November 21, 2014. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, visuals, and performances but criticized it as being derivative, and grossed $232 million worldwide against its $90 million budget. Plot Coming soon! Voice cast Coming soon! Additional Voices *Ava Acres *Steve Alterman *Keith Anthony *Bibo Bergeron *June Christopher *David Cowgill *Jim Cummings *Chad Einbinder *Pat Fraley *Eddie Frierson *Jackie Gonneau *Nicholas Guest *Jason Harris *Bridget Hoffman *Rif Hutton *Mia Sinclair Jenness *Mona Marshall *Scott Menville *Paul Pape *Lynwood Robinson *Al Rodrigo *Jonny Solomon *Fred Tatasciore *Matthew W. Taylor *Marcelo Tubert *Claudette Wells *Mick Wingert Production Coming soon! Soundtrack Release Lester's Academy went through several release date changes. It was initially set for March 7, 2014, but in March 2012, the film was pushed back to September 26, 2014. In November 2012, the film was pushed back again, to December 5, 2014. In October 2013, the film's release date was once again pushed back, this time to November 21, 2014. The film premiered a week earlier in the United Kingdom, on November 14, 2014. The film's opening premiere opened at the BFI London Film Festival Event on October 18, 2014 as a special BFI presentation, and was theatrically released on November 21, 2014, in the United States by Columbia Pictures. The film was released two months later in China on February 14, 2015. Home media Lester's Academy was released on Digital HD on March 10, 2015, and on DVD and Blu-ray on March 24, 2015 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film topped the home video sales chart for two consecutive weeks. Reception Box office Lester's Academy grossed $101.3 million in the US and Canada and $131.5 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $232.8 million, against a budget of $90 million. In North America, Lester's Academy was released alongside The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, and was projected to gross $25–30 million from 4,256 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $1.2 million from Thursday night previews and $8.5 million on its first day. It went on to open to $23.7 million, finishing second at the box office behind Mockingjay - Part 1. Critical response On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 159 reviews; the average rating is 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Even if the plot rehashes some elements from earlier animated films, dazzling visuals, sweet humor and strong voice cast make Lester's Academy a tidy addition to the line of animation." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 63 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Accolades Coming soon! Possible sequel Coming soon! Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. Category:Films Category:2014 Category:2010s Category:Lester's Academy Category:Sony Pictures Animation films Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:Columbia Pictures animated films Category:Animated films Category:Computer animated films Category:3-D films Category:IMAX films Category:Science fiction films Category:Fantasy films